The Best Gift
by aprms
Summary: For rose coloured glasses' challenge. Nick and Jess try to make everyone's Christmas a little better this year.


**This is my story for rose coloured glasses' Christmas and New Years Challenge. It's inspired by what my family are doing this Christmas, but of course I added a healthy dose of Ness romance 'cause they look good wrapped up under the Christmas lights, amirite? Thank you to Ztofan!**

The Best Gift

"Oh my goodness, Nick. Have you ever seen anything so heartbreaking in your life?"

Jess turned her face to him, her eyes glistening. Nick didn't know the correct response, so he went with a safe shake of the head, fixing his gaze on the television instead of his girlfriend. The news blared out at them, showing images of death and destruction in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. Nick had to admit, it was shocking. A dirty young boy cycled past what he assumed used to be a house – now a pile of splintered wood and debris. There was an ornate coffin on a stand in the road, the body inside forgotten as more recent corpses piled up on the street.

"God, that's awful," Nick found himself saying as the images on the screen turned to interviews with survivors, pleading for the safe return of their families. "It makes you realize how lucky we are." His fingers played with the ends of Jess' hair as she continued to stare at the television set.

"Those poor survivors. They'll have no homes for Christmas." She shook her head, wiping at her damp eyes and reaching for the remote. "I don't want to watch this anymore Nick, do you mind if I change the channel?"

Nick shrugged, letting Jess switch over to a comedy channel. He couldn't take his eyes off her as she stared ahead with a blank expression on her face, clearly disturbed by what she had seen on the news. His chest constricted – he hated seeing her upset. She was such a ray of sunshine all the time, it hurt him when her light was dimmed. "Hey Jess," he said softly, pulling her tense frame towards him to place a light kiss on her temple, "are you okay?"

She nodded, relaxing against him. "I'm fine. I just…can't stand how much pain there is in the world sometimes, y'know?" she glanced up at him, blinking a few times. "It seems so unfair."

He nodded wordlessly, knowing it was better to leave her to her thoughts when she was like this. Jess' unwavering concern for those around her often grated on him, especially when he had to forcibly remove her from a conversation with someone who would likely take advantage of her time/kindness/money. Sometimes her naivety drove him to distraction, and he wanted to shake her and say "look around! The world is a horrible, unforgiving place! Accept it Jessica!" but he knew that without her optimism she wouldn't be Jessica Day, and he wouldn't be in love with her.

He pulled the blanket from the arm of the couch and draped it over her, wrapping an arm firmly around her back as she rested her head on his chest, sighing heavily. It was clear that on this particular occasion she was affected more than usual, and that meant Nick felt worse about it too, because that news report had proved him right. The world was a bad place, and no amount of his girlfriend's positive remarks and bright smiles were gonna change that. Nick always thought he'd feel satisfied when he won this kind of argument, but he never did. He always felt worse.

As they watched the mind-numbing show in silence, the only noise in the room the sounds of tinny canned laughter, the cogs started turning in Nick's head. He couldn't save all those people in the Philippines, but he could sure as hell try his best to make everyone's Christmas a little better.

* * *

Jess closed the door to the loft, feeling drained as she dropped her purse on the couch, pressing her fingers into her eyes and trying to rub the pain away. She'd had the day from hell and just wanted to sit down, mark some papers and go to bed with her boyfriend, who performed the most delightful foot rubs.

She paused when she heard a shuffling noise and turned her head, letting out a shriek when she noticed Nick standing by the TV, a nervous grin on his face. "Have you been there the whole time?" she asked, breathless as she pressed a hand to her wildly beating heart. "What are you up to Miller?"

He laughed, holding out a package wrapped in shiny red paper. "Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out. I just wanted to give you this."

Jess approached him, a slow, unsure smile spreading across her face. "Nick! It's only November!"

He shrugged. "This kind of present needs to be given a little bit early. Just open it."

Jess took the gift from him, her eyes lighting up. It was light and soft as she squeezed it. _Must be clothes_, she thought as she ripped into the paper. Maybe he had gotten her a goofy Christmas sweater so they could finally do the loft Christmas card design she had been begging for throughout the year. She knew her Mom would just love to receive a card like that. And she was desperate to dress Schmidt up as Rudolph.

Jess frowned, confused as she pulled the item out and it unfolded in her hand. The red felt material tickled her palm as she held it up, dropping the packaging to take it with both hands. The top of the material had white wool stitched around it in the style of Santa's hat. It was a large Christmas stocking. "What…" she started, confused as she stared at it. "Nick, this is beautiful but I already have a stocking. You knew that."

He nodded, motioning for her to turn it round. She did, and there was a note stuck to the back with Scotch tape. She carefully removed it, opening up the tiny card. Inside it were the words _Typhoon Haiyan Appeal_, written in felt tip pen. Jess' eyes widened as she transferred her gaze from the note to Nick's face.

"Everyone deserves a Christmas, right?" he said, reaching out to take her hand on his own and squeeze it. "I thought we could pool our money, y'know, like instead of spending it on a coffee or a beer or a sweater, we could put it in the stocking. And instead of spending money on each other's stocking gifts, we could put that money in here too. And then send it away for Christmas."

Jess squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry at her boyfriend's actions. "I know you care about everyone Jess, sometimes too much," Nick continued, speaking a little faster now, as though he was worried she didn't like it, "and this is a chance for us to do something good. Get back to what Christmas is supposed to be about. Those people deserve something from us, to make it a little bit easier."

Jess opened her eyes, making him shut up. "This is the best gift you could have given me Nick." She stated simply, beaming at him. "I love you."

He sighed with relief and grinned back. "Good. I'm glad. I love you too Jess. Oof!" he cried as she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Chuckling, he hugged her back, clutching her to him and lifting her off the ground. She pressed her lips to his ear, his cheek, and then finally found her way to his mouth, placing her hands on his face as she kissed him, both of them smiling against each other.

"Okay," Jess announced when they finally drew away from each other. "Let's go make a difference."

For the next month and a half, Nick and Jess found any way they could to save money and put it in the stocking. They knew it was too late to get it to the Philippines by Christmas, but with the torrent of donations coming in from the rest of America and Europe that Nick was keeping track of on his laptop, they knew it was better to just focus on getting their money there and contributing to the rebuilding of people's homes as soon as they possibly could. Jess had become feverishly motivated, constantly coming up with new ways to save and donate, and Nick had put every ounce of effort into supporting her, and their cause.

A week into their appeal Nick came home from work to find Jess on the couch, waiting up for him with the stocking draped over her lap and a sewing kit beside her, her tongue between her teeth as she sewed '_Donations for the Philippines_' in white thread into the fabric. He had waited for her to finish, admiring the pleased look on her face as she assessed her handiwork, and then picked her up and carried her to his room, ignoring her thrilled squeals of protest.

By early December the stocking was half full of bills and coins. Jess had gone without a Starbucks for weeks and Nick had forgotten what takeout and burritos tasted like. Instead of buying knickknacks and candy for each other's stockings they had left them in the closet, stuffing the money they would have spent in _Donations_, which Jess now referred to as the "jolly fat Santa sack".

By mid-December Winston and Schmidt had joined in, swapping their stockings for dollars in the sack. Schmidt ran out of his $45 hair chutney, choosing to put the funds he would have spent on a new tub in the sack and use his much less favored "standard Wal-Mart crappola". His hair was not as full and bouncy as he would have liked, but he was happier. They were happier. Even Cece dropped by with a quarter of her pay from her most recent shoot, earning her a bone-crushing hug from Jess.

A week before Christmas, Jess contacted the Haiyan Appeal. As she was speaking to the lovely young woman on the other end (whose name was Harriett), Schmidt entered the apartment with the full Douchebag Jar, waving at Jess and Nick and crossing to the stocking, emptying the jar's contents into it. For the umpteenth time since November, Jess welled up, sniffing and smiling a watery thanks to Schmidt as Nick pressed his fingertips into her shoulders. She turned her head to look at him, blinking away the tears. He grinned at her, leaning in to place a quick peck on her lips before she resumed her phone conversation.

In just under a month and a half, loft 4D saved up and sent away six hundred and eleven dollars. They celebrated on the roof, with a simple six pack of beers and a game of Trivial Pursuit. Jess knitted silly Christmas hats for everyone and they wrapped up warm, laughing, making toasts and checking for updates on the donations coming into the Philippines. They were in the high millions.

As Schmidt and Winston fought over whether an acceptable answer to '_what animal has the longest lifespan in captivity?'_ was _tortoise_ rather than _Giant tortoise_, Jess pressed close to Nick, resting her head on his shoulder. "Merry Christmas," she said quietly as they watched the scene in front of them, Nick rolling his eyes at his friends. He smiled involuntarily, his sour mood nowhere to be found for the first time in his life. He was finally a doer. Someone's life, somewhere, was ever so slightly improved because of them, and everything just felt a little bit more Christmassy.

"Merry Christmas Jess."

They put their arms around each other, grateful for what they had – a dysfunctional, crazy, compassionate family. There was a glint in Jess' eyes as she cast them up at him, and he knew then that no matter how hard everything got, no matter how bad the world could sometimes be, her light would never go out. And Nick Miller struggled to be negative about everything when he considered himself a damn lucky man for finding Jessica Day and making her his.

"Hey Jess, I know we're waiting until tomorrow to exchange our proper gifts, but I seem to be making a habit of messing that up, so…" Nick removed a small, ornately wrapped package from his coat pocket, holding it out in the palm of his hand. Jess touched a gloved hand to her mouth, pulling away from him to admire it.

"Wow Nick." She said quietly, taking the small square gift from him. "I don't…did you wrap this?"

He turtlefaced at her, and she laughed. She should have known a present wrapped by him wouldn't look this beautiful. "The woman in the store then?" her eyes sparkled with mirth as he nodded sheepishly.

Her fingers gently tugged at the gold ribbon and glittering green paper, unwrapping it as if it was made of glass. Inside was a small jewellery box. She snapped it open, taking in a sharp breath when her eyes fell on the item inside.

"We've been together for a few months now, and I thought it might be jewellery territory," Nick started nervously. "I saw this and thought of you."

"Nick, I don't know what to say." She carefully pulled the silver ring from the box, admiring the way the Christmas lights they had put up were reflected in the surface. There were intertwining leaves inset into the silver, and small pearl berries in the center of it. It was stunning.

She slipped it on to her finger, her brow furrowing in confusion. "It's so gorgeous Nick. But what is that, is it holly?" She held her hand above her head, squinting in the low light and trying to see what the leaves were supposed to be. Suddenly, Nick's hand was on the side of her face, turning it towards him, and he placed his warm lips on hers, enveloping her in a kiss. Surprised, Jess let her hand fall to his shoulder before wrapping her arms firmly around his neck, losing herself in him.

They kissed for what felt like hours, the romantic setting only fuelling their desire for one another. When Nick finally pulled away, they were rosy cheeked and bright-eyed, grinning at each other like idiots. Nick reached for Jess' hand, bringing it up between them so they could look at the ring again. "It's mistletoe," he stated, clearly very pleased with himself. Jess nodded slowly, realization dawning on her.

"Oh!" she eventually laughed, smacking his arm. "You smooth operator."

Slipping an arm around her waist again, Nick turned back to the scene on the roof, unable to wipe the proud smirk from his face. Jess rolled her eyes, holding her hand up to eye level once more. "This was a great idea. I'm gonna use this ring to my advantage this Christmas Miller."

He raised his eyebrows, glancing her way. "Who said anything about just Christmas?"

Jess giggled, leaning against Nick's arm and relishing in the warmth radiating from him as they watched their roommates tussle over yet another Trivial Pursuit question, this time from the children's section. The world could be pretty amazing if you knew where to look.


End file.
